Some restaurants are having customers order at a counter
instead of being waited on at a table and are simplifying their
menus to decrease the size of their
waitstaff.

The problem isn't unique to the Bay Area: Restaurants in
cities like New York City and Washington have encountered similar
staffing issues.

Michelin recently released its 2019 San Francisco Guide - and
awarded the city more stars than it's ever had before, including
eight restaurants with the coveted three-star status.

But there's a grimmer reality behind these numbers: Many
restaurants in the city can no longer attract or maintain enough
talent to keep operations running as they have been.

Largely, that's because the San Francisco housing market is so
expensive that it's driving people out in droves. In fact, as
Business Insider's Melia Robinson reported, the city is so
expensive - the median home sale price is $1.6 million - that 60% of
tech workers say they can't afford homes.

The news bodes even worse for many workers in the service
industry. Despite a citywide wage hike implemented
on July 1, 2018, that raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour,
rent continues to be unaffordable for many. And it means that
restaurants, bars, and coffee shops, once common sources of
employment for people in the Bay Area, are struggling to hire
enough staff to keep operations running.

As The Guardian reported, the effect this is having on the
restaurant industry is twofold: Restaurants are either closing
down, or they are changing how they serve their customers.

In an effort to stay open despite staffing shortages,
restaurants that previously may have had extensive menus and
waiters tending to each table are taking measures to cut back on
the size of the staff that both prepares and serves the
food.

Instead of traditional service, The Guardian's Erin
McCormick wrote, some restaurants "are having the customers do
the work by standing in line to place their orders and picking up
their own drinks. Meanwhile, new 'fine casual' establishments are
serving scaled-down menus that can be easily prepared by fewer
cooks."

Looking beyond the Bay Area

While San Francisco is notorious for its rising prices, the
problem extends beyond the Bay Area.

High rent in New York City has had a similar effect on the
restaurant industry, The Guardian reported. And
Washington, as The New York Times reported in
April, is also experiencing staff shortages - but the problem
there is that the expanding restaurant scene is simply outpacing
the area's ability to staff these establishments.

"The demand for highly skilled help is especially acute in
Washington, where a boom in restaurants run by creative chefs is
outstripping the region's labor force," The Times wrote.

Ultimately, the shortage of restaurant staff creates a
problem in which repercussions are felt by both the staff and by
the diners.

For guests, it means at the very least an altered dining
experience with less human interaction from the waitstaff. At
worst, as the Michelin Guide wrote, it
manifests as "lackluster service and food or fewer opportunities
to dine."

And for management looking to fill out staff at these
establishments, it means that hiring is an increasingly pressing
challenge. As Business Insider's Kate Taylor reported, "Analysts are also
calling a lack of employees one of the biggest problems in the
restaurant industry today."

Are you an industry professional who's been affected by
staffing shortages or has a story to share? Email the author at
lbatarags@businessinsider.com.